THE SYSTEMS DESCRIBED (Read Chapter 17)

An Ungodly City Gives Birth to a Godless World Wide System: (vs. 1-6)

   The immoral woman (vs. 1 & 3) represents the city of Babylon. (vs. 5, 18)

   The world view adopted by the original Babylon under its founder and first ruler Nimrod formed the basis of the religious and philosophical system which has spread throughout the world. (Genesis 10:10-12) Babylon is the mother of all evil. (vs. 5)

   This system now controls the life of every group of people in all the nations of the world. Henry Morris[1] describes it as a system which is …

-         pantheistic: believing that the physical universe is the ultimate reality, not Creator God

-         polytheistic: believing that this deified cosmos manifests itself locally as various forces and systems of nature personified as ‘gods’ and ‘goddesses’

-       evolutionary: believing that these personified forces of nature somehow generate higher and higher orders of beings including man and in some cases,  spirits

-        animistic/spiritistic: believing that the spirits so generated, including spirits of dead men and women, continue to evolve into still higher beings

-      astrological: believing that the highest beings so developed either inhabit or are identical with the starry host of heaven, so that these stars control events on earth

-         idolatrous: believing that these gods and goddesses or personified forces and systems of nature should be worshipped through images constructed to represent them and which they then possess and energies

   This evil system contrasts with the godly system pictured in references to the city of Jerusalem. Babylon stands for rebellion against God and the silencing of Christian testimony—Jerusalem points the way to peace with God. (cf. vs. 5 with 2 Chronicles 6:6, Isaiah 65:17-18, Micah 4:1-2, Hebrews 12:22-24, Revelation 3:12, 21:1-4, 9-11)

   People of every generation must choose between the systems represented by these two cities. (1 Kings 18:21)

The Picture Is Further Explained: (vs. 7-15)

   The woman has already been identified as Babylon and the ungodly systems it and the peoples of the world have adopted as basic to their lifestyles. (vs. 5)

   The beast she rides is the evil world ruler referred to in Chapter 13:1-10. (vs. 8) This evil world ruler is pictured as being driven (ridden) by the ungodly religious and political systems operating throughout the world. Satan is the power behind them all.

   These systems reappear in successive national rulers until they are seen in all their intensity in the evil world ruler who will surpass them all in the world wide terror he presides over. There was once one who most closely fitted the description, one who is not now so evident, but one who is yet to emerge—fulfilling all the Biblical descriptions of the Antichrist. He will be sent to his destruction at the coming of the King of Kings. (vs. 8)

   The seven heads of the beast are seven hills which may well refer initially to the city of Rome, founded traditionally in 735 BC on the seven hills or bluffs where the plain falls away into the River Tiber. (vs. 9)

   The picture then widens so that they also represent seven rulers ruling over seven kingdoms. Rome being just one of those kingdoms (vs. 10)

   Five have fallen, one remains, and one is yet to arise. The seven kingdoms could be ancient Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece, Rome, with one still to emerge.

   The beast (the ungodly world ruler who has arisen) comes from one of these seven kingdoms. He could come from the kingdom yet to arise, or he could be from one of the former six and be Satan’s attempt to counterfeit the resurrection of Christ.

   The ten horns of the beast are ten rulers waiting to be assigned their sphere of authority. But it will be for a short time only (vs. 12)

   They will give total allegiance to the evil world ruler, working with him in his war against the Lord and his people . (vs. 13-14)

   The Lamb is the Lord Jesus Christ, whose sacrificial death makes salvation possible for all who receive him. (vs. 14, cf. 1 Peter 1:18-21, John 1:29)

   Ultimate victory over Satan, the evil world ruler, and his followers belongs to him. (Revelation 19)

   He is Lord over all. (Revelation 19:16, cf. Deuteronomy 10:17, Philippians 2:10, Isaiah 45:23, Romans 14:11)

But The Lord God Almighty Reigns: (vs. 16-18)

   There is a lack of harmony among the world’s rulers. They, and the evil world ruler who has given them their authority, turn against all philosophies and religions, much as Chairman Mao did in his reign of terror in China. (vs. 16)

   God allows them to give all their authority back to the evil world ruler. Even though he now rules as an absolute dictator, the Lord overrules all that he does. Until ultimately all of God’s purposes have come to pass. (vs. 17)

   Babylon and the belief systems originating in that city contrast starkly with Jerusalem and the belief systems associated with that city. Jerusalem will remain, Babylon will fall. (vs. 18, cf. Revelation 18 & 21)

THE COLLAPSE OF THE WORLD'S SYSTEMS IS TOTAL AND FINAL (Read Chapter 18)

John listens carefully as some important announcements are made from heaven ...

Concerning The Fall Of Babylon. (vs. 2-3, cf. Jeremiah 51:47-64)

   One of God’s special administrators announces for all the world to hear that Babylon has fallen.

   The reason for its fall is that the systems it gave birth to have become dominated by …

-         every kind of evil spirit (vs. 2)

-         every kind of evil activity (vs. 2)

-         widespread corruption as many of the world’s leaders seek riches for themselves at the expense of the people they govern. (vs. 3)

-        the get rich quick business activities being carried on throughout the world by uncaring  entrepreneurs (vs. 3)

   Paul describes the lifestyle of those who follow schemes based on the belief systems of the world in his letter to a young pastor. (2 Timothy 3:1-5)

Concerning The Uplift Of God’s People. (vs. 4)

   God’s people have no alternative but to live and work within the world’s systems. But they are called to be different, to not follow the ways of the world. (Romans 12:1-2, 2 Corinthians 6:14-17)

   The time is rapidly approaching however, when God’s people will be taken up out of the world to ‘be with the Lord forever.’ (vs. 4, cf. Jeremiah 51:45-46, 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18)

About Judgment For Those Left Behind. (vs. 4-8, cf. Jeremiah 51:47-64)

   Those devoted to the world’s evil systems will be left to face the judgments which are gathering momentum. The judgments are …

-         for sins which have been piling up over a long period of time (vs. 5)

-         according to the evils perpetrated (vs. 6-7)

-         not warded off by denying the possibility of their falling (vs. 7)

-         delivered suddenly and without further warning (vs. 8)

-         devastating (vs. 8)

-         delivered by the Lord God—he has no other alternative if he is to administer justice for all concerned (vs. 8)

All The World’s People Are Affected. (vs. 9-20)

   When the religious, political, monetary, and legal systems of the world collapse …

   National leaders mourn as the source of their power is removed by fire. They are terrified at the prospect of being caught in the flames themselves. (vs. 9)   

   They watch helplessly as their dreams of power and a luxurious lifestyle at the expense of their people disappear in billowing clouds of smoke. (vs. 10)

   People in business mourn as their corporate business empires collapse with the shrinking of world markets. Costly items can no longer be afforded. Products once highly desired have lost their appeal. (vs. 11-13, cf. 1 Timothy 6:3-10, James 5:1-5) 

   The merchants grieve audibly as all that they have built their hopes on crumbles forever. They are terrified as they are left with nothing to replace what they have lost. (vs. 14-16)

   They are overcome by the speed with which the markets collapse. (vs. 17)

   Those associated with ships join in the mournful songs of doom. (vs. 18-19)

   Ship owners, crews of merchant ships and oil tankers, travelers on luxury liners, all become desperate as their means of livelihood are taken away from them. 

   Barclay[2] notes that “a society built on luxury, on wantonness, on pride, on callousness to human life and personality is necessarily doomed.”

   How quickly are so called riches lost in the fire. (vs. 19b)

   God’s People can now rejoice as justice begins to prevail and the coming of the Lord draws near. (vs. 20, cf. Romans 12:19, 2 Thessalonians 1:3-10)

The Fall Of Babylon: (vs. 21-24)
 

   The boulder is pictured as being the size of a millstone, the largest kind as drawn by an ass in the grinding of corn. Just as a stone thrown into the sea would quickly sink, so the world systems originating in Babylon are about to be overwhelmed as the final waves of history roll in with the coming of the Lord. (vs. 21, cf. Jeremiah 51:63-64)

   The fall of the world’s systems is now final. No further recovery is possible …

-         the music reflecting the world views and value systems of those who do not know the Lord fade from the scene—the pseudo-happiness it produces is transitory (vs. 22a)

-         the world’s craftsmen cease work—the best they can produce has failed to bring eternal happiness (vs. 22b)

-         food production grinds to a halt—the world’s systems have failed to provide the ‘bread of life’ (vs. 22c, cf. John 4:4, 6:25-40)

-         light will cease—the most highly developed systems fail to give light in the spiritual darkness (vs. 23a, cf. 1 Thessalonians 5:1-5)

-         social events come to an end—the glitter is illusory (vs. 23b)

-         the economy collapses—business leaders have no answers for the problems the system has created (vs. 23c)

-         the spiritual deceptions of occult practices leave people in total darkness—their teachings are found to be false (vs. 23d)

-         Babylon and the systems it gave to the world have been the reason for the persecution of God’s people through the centuries—it will now cease for THE KING IS COMING. (vs. 24).